Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice staffer Kielyn Guzman pours mango flavoring on a cup of shave ice Tuesday afternoon at the Maui Lani location in Wailuku. The prices of everyday goods and items in Maui County, from refreshing bowls of shave ice to plate lunches to groceries, will see an increase in taxes after the Maui County Council passed a bill to add a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of the state’s 4 percent general excise tax, which is like a sales tax. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
Beginning Jan. 1, residents and visitors can expect to pay a higher tax on everyday goods and services in Maui County.
The Maui County Council passed a bill on second and final reading Tuesday that will allow the county to add a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of the state’s 4 percent general excise tax, which is like a sales tax. The surcharge, which is expected to generate around $80 million a year for the county, will go toward funding housing infrastructure such as sewer and water systems, waste disposal and treatment systems, and pedestrian paths. Twenty percent of the county’s revenue from the surcharge will go toward development of county infrastructure projects that would allow the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to proceed with homestead development.
The council voted 8-0 in favor of adopting the surcharge Tuesday, with Council Member Gabe Johnson absent and excused.
Mayor Richard Bissen intends to sign the bill, said Mahina Martin, chief of communications and public affairs for the Office of the Mayor.
Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez had wanted to add an amendment to the bill that would have developers who benefit from the infrastructure funded by the surcharge to open their books, but said she ran out of time to flesh out the proposal. She had wanted the developers to disclose how the county assistance helped to get projects off the ground so the public can see that “this surcharge is actually achieving the purpose it meant to achieve.”
Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice staffer Kielyn Guzman pours flavoring while making a guava-lychee shave ice Tuesday afternoon at the Maui Lani location in Wailuku.
“Not to just enrich those developers that may not have the best interest of the community,” she said.
The county had a deadline of Aug. 1 to pass the bill to ensure the surcharge could be in place by Jan. 1, as details also need to be worked out with the state.
Rawlins-Fernandez said she will propose the amendment later on after the bill becomes law.
During the series of council committee meetings, a committee night meeting and a public hearing, there has been some opposition to the surcharge, which some call a regressive tax that will mostly hurt lower-income residents.
Citing information from the state Department of Taxation, county officials said a person could pay an additional $370 if the surcharge is adopted. The department also estimates that as much as 30 percent of all GET taxes are paid by nonresidents.
Some in the medical field also opposed the surcharge, noting how Hawaii is the only place where the GET is imposed on Medicare and Medicaid and that doctors cannot pass on the tax to patients.
Maui County will be the last in the state to adopt a surcharge on top of the state’s GET. A bill signed by Gov. Josh Green following this year’s legislative season reopened the possibility for the county to add the surcharge.
Maui County’s surcharge will sunset Dec. 31, 2030. If the state allows the surcharge to go beyond the sunset date, the council will need to reconsider the surcharge via ordinance.
On Tuesday, council members also passed a bill on second and final reading that would limit air and replica guns in certain public spaces. Currently any person can carry air rifles though public areas such as a park. But with the bill, it will be a crime to carry or display an air gun in a public place unless it’s unloaded and in an enclosed container. It also makes it unlawful for any person to discharge an air gun from or across any street, sidewalk, alley or public land or any public place except on an enclosed range designed and properly constructed for the use of the air gun.
Violations of the new law would be punishable by a fine up to $500 or by imprisonment of up to one year or by both.
Maui police have said every case involving air or replica guns has been tied to possession and/or distribution of narcotics and most of the individuals are felons.
Council members also completed the final piece of the 11-member East Maui Regional Community Board on Tuesday. They waived council rules to take action on the floor on a resolution to place former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Land Management Director and water policy expert Jonathan Likeke Scheuer on the board. Scheuer will serve as the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands appointee on the panel, which also consists of four mayoral appointees and six council appointees.
The board’s tasks will include providing input on the East Maui watershed plan and appointing a director for a new East Maui Community Water Authority. The new board was created by a charter amendment that voters approved in the Nov. 8 election in hopes of allowing residents to have more of a say in how water in East Maui is used and managed.
Bissen selected his appointees in May, and the council set its appointees in June.
The council waited to finalize the full board until the DHHL and Maui beneficiaries could have a meeting on the department’s appointee. The DHHL had twice made appointments to the board, including Scheuer at one point, and subsequently took back those recommendations. Maui DHHL beneficiaries said during meetings of the council’s Water Authority, Social Services and Parks Committee that they did not have a chance to weigh in on the appointees.
Another key action the council took Tuesday was to pass a bill on first reading to rename Puamana Beach Park in Lahaina to Puamana Cultural Preserve at Waianu’ukole to provide a more culturally accurate name with meaning and purpose that also recognizes Hawaiian burials in the area.
Hawaiian cultural practitioners and those with ties to the area have said Waianu’ukole is the correct place name for the area. Hailama Farden, whose family has longtime connections to Lahaina, noted that the current park name was derived from the name of the Farden family home, “Puamana.” He suggested preserving the name to honor the legacy and contributions of the late Emma Kapiolani Farden Sharpe, a legendary West Maui kumu hula, according to a council committee report.
Ke’eaumoku Kapu of ‘Aha Moku O Maui was also instrumental in the name change.
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice staffer Kielyn Guzman pours mango flavoring on a cup of shave ice Tuesday afternoon at the Maui Lani location in Wailuku. The prices of everyday goods and items in Maui County, from refreshing bowls of shave ice to plate lunches to groceries, will see an increase in taxes after the Maui County Council passed a bill to add a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of the state’s 4 percent general excise tax, which is like a sales tax. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos 
Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice staffer Kielyn Guzman pours flavoring while making a guava-lychee shave ice Tuesday afternoon at the Maui Lani location in Wailuku.Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
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